Allium aschersonianum

Allium aschersonianum, sometimes given as a synonym of Allium eximium, is a wild ornamental garlic that is still relatively uncommon in horticultural trade. This species has early flowering, composed of large-sized flower heads in the shape of a regular ball. They boast a beautiful reddish-purple colour. Its ornamental qualities should make it a welcome addition to our gardens, although it is not among the most accommodating under cold and humid climates. From its origins, this garlic has retained a marked preference for semi-arid climates, which are very dry in summer and in winter. Ascherson's garlic is a collector's plant that will delight enthusiasts of wild beauty.

Allium aschersonianum is native to semi-desert areas in southern Turkey, Jordan, Israel, Palestine, and northern Libya, where it blooms as early as the end of winter. It is a bulbous plant resistant to dry cold (down to -12°C (10.4°F)). It requires a very sunny exposure and soil rich in gravel or sand that does not retain water. Ornamental garlics belong to the Amaryllidaceae family, just like their cousins leeks, garlic, and onions.

It is a perennial herbaceous bulbous plant. The foliage emerges in autumn or winter in warm and dry climates, but appears later in cold and humid ones, usually in April. The 3 to 5 beautiful leaves of this ornamental garlic are wide, gutter-shaped, tapered at their ends, and sometimes twisted. They reach 4 to 6cm (2in) in width and 50 to 60cm (20 to 24in) in length, and are of a fairly light glaucous green colour. Initially upright, they bend over at a later stage. The floral stem, 60 to 70cm (24 to 28in) tall, appears between the leaves in April-May in hot climates, in June in cooler areas. A spherical umbel, 6 to 7cm (2 to 3in) wide, appears at the stem's tip. It is composed of a multitude of star-shaped flowers in shades of purple, pink, and reddish-purple. The seeds, which are produced in large quantities, easily self-sow in loose soil. The foliage dries up after flowering, a sign that the bulb enters a period of rest before the arrival of summer drought. This allium is susceptible to rot in overly wet soil, both in summer and winter.

Ascherson's garlic will be perfect for bringing life to a rockery or gravel bed, or even to a dry garden without irrigation. This colourful plant combines wonderfully with ornamental grasses such as Stipa tenuifolia or S. barbata, thistles (Eryngium, Echinops ritro), nigellas, Californian poppies, lavenders, thymes, and low-growing cistus, for example. Place it in small groups of 3 to 5 bulbs among other plants, and it will surprise you every year with its early flowering.